Wisdom Guides

Here is a list of inspiring beings and I’d like to share a little about them from my perspective. I think of this as my “Best of Gurus and Guides” list. And remember, guru stands for: Gee, You Are You because we are our own greatest teacher:

davidji – epic guru, guide, mentor and friend. Humorous, direct, knowledgeable and grounded. If you like the idea of a straight talkin’ guy with a NY accent sharing a lot of spiritual and daily living wisdom with you, this is the man! Oh, and did I mention that he is an internationally renowned author, certified Vedic Master and meditation teacher, just to name a few.

Gabrielle Bernstein (aka Gabby) – talk about the other side of the spectrum. Besides sharing roots in NY like Davidji, this girl is all about the sass and channels a feminine energy with a bold, bright, contagious excitement. She takes so many concepts of spirituality and translates them into a modern day practice. Fabulous for anyone who is cutting edge, curious about cutting caffeine and wants to know more about kundalini yoga.

Marie Forleo – in the same genre as Gabby, although Marie’s best known for her B-School. This course, currently offered once a year, as promoted by Marie “offers the tools, strategies, and insights you need to make your business more profitable, more impactful, and true to your ideal vision.” She has found a way to bring wit together with concrete action items to inspire momentum to create a business and life you love. I love that that concept!

Marianne Williamson – “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Need I say more? In addition to being known for her knowledge and teachings of A Course in Miracles, Marianne is also running for Congress and she states, “Love should be our bottom line, in politics as well as in everything else.”

Deepak Chopra – World renowned author and spiritual guide, this man needs no introduction. That said, I knew very little about his teachings, ideas and background until I attended an incredible 7-day experience called Seduction of Spirit in stunning Whistler, Canada in July 2013. The best part was I didn’t even really know what I signed up for. Just weeks before the event began, I realized it would be ideal to take some personal time – this course just happened to line up perfectly (ahem, manifestation). Through this time, I learned the basics of meditation and before the week was up, I received primordial sound for meditation and learned about Vedic history through Deepak’s teachings. A truly eye-opening experience and one of the many pivotal chapters in my exploration.

Jean Houston – Not only is Jean one of the most incredible storytellers, she also brings everyone along with her and we become active participants as she describes the concepts of archetypes and reminds us who we really are – we found this out at Seduction of Spirit by playing “Are You God in Hiding?”. She can also be described as a scholar, philosopher and researcher in Human Capacities – one of the foremost visionary thinkers and doers of our time…and even that doesn’t come close to a complete depiction.

Martha Beck – Martha was also a speaker at the Seduction of Spirit event I attended. She immediately caught my attention when I learned about her adventure retreat called The African Star. Talk about speaking my language! For any of you who know a little bit about me, I hold some locations very near and dear to my heart – Africa is one of those places, especially an appreciation for the wildlife..and so does Martha. Rock on, girl! And it doesn’t stop there – Martha planted a seed about the idea that maybe we’re all just avatars in a fun video game right now. There’s way more to that concept – quite simply, I use it to remind myself to take it a little more easy when I’m stressing about something that really won’t matter hours, days and especially years from now.

Scott Dinsmore – The catalyst to make this site a reality! On January 7, Scott challenged LYLers (Live Your Legend) to join up for the first same-day global meetup. I have no idea how this site even made it into my inbox – I just know I am grateful. Without ever meeting Scott and knowing virtually nothing about this community, I took a chance and showed up at a local event with 20 other people, equally curious about what this might hold in store. We went around the room and discussed our ideas and it became clear in an instant that I just needed to do something – anything. Take a first step! I knew I was interested in creating a website, but what topic to choose – there were too many ideas. So I didn’t really choose. I kept the theme broad and just started writing. What was really cool was that suddenly people started asking for me tips and questions about my meditation practice and so I simply followed the questions and kept writing. I am still narrowing down my focus…or maybe I won’t! Either way, I am creating content. Hope you enjoy it :-)

Niurka – My first self-selected spirituality course (high school religion class with Ms. Daurio doesn’t count) was with an incredibly dynamic personality in Niurka. It was presented as an intensive communications course was that created a safe space for me to jumpstart learning about other ways of viewing the world and getting comfortable sharing it with others. Beneath that concept was powerful teaching about forgiveness, empowering states of mind and transforming limiting beliefs. Built on the premise of NLP, Niurka’s unique approach highlights a process to align your thoughts, words, and actions with your true purpose and authentic self. You create as you speak. Your word has that much power.

Tony Robbins – When a man makes you walk on fire and yells “bullshit”, what’s not to be inspired by?? Stop making up stories and living behind excuses. Yeah, that pretty much sums it up! And his 2006 TED Talks is so energizing – he even high fives Al Gore after calling him out about resourcefulness and passion. It’s only been viewed 11 million times, so maybe you want to check it out now, too…

“You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.” – Jim Rohn

Other Notables

Chris Guillebeau – the art of non-conformity. Need I say more? What a great title for a site and this guy is a living example of it. He made a goal to visit every country…before his 35th birthday and did just that in Oslo, Norway. His site has also sorts of travel advice, so obviously I’m already hooked (especially all the tips for using miles – I am a junkie).

James Altucher – random, out there, kooky and fabulous…I think. Sometimes I can’t keep up with the way this guys thinks, and that’s okay. He is authentically himself and raw and brutally direct.

Adam Braun – Love the casual confidence about Adam. If there’s an issue, go do something about it. Don’t look around and see who else is going to make a move, just take action. That’s exactly what Adam did with Pencils of Promise.

Brene Brown – I recently watched a video segment where Brene discusses how perfectionists work. She summed it up that if perfectionism is in the driver’s seat, then shame is riding shotgun and fear is the annoying back seat driver. Always. Wow – powerful…

Dorothy Richards – Well, I didn’t “recently stumble” upon this woman who birthed me – this is my fabulous mother! While I’ve obviously known her my whole life, its only been recently that we’ve really begun having amazing chats about beliefs, spirituality and sharing techniques to navigate our environment. With great phrases like FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real and reminders about telling the committee in my head to keep quiet! She’s also responsible for nicknaming me Buddha Buddha when I was little because I resembled the big bellied, smiling Budai. Thank you for everything, Mom!

Of course, this is just a very short list of a long and distinguished community that all share a passion to do what they love AND make a difference at the same time. In giving, we receive.